177 INT. WAYNE MANOR STUDY——DAY 177

    Bruce and Alfred watch "Cobblepot's" address on TV.

    PENGUIN

    （onscreen）

    A ticking time bomb of a costumed

    freak who finally exploded last

    night， spraying this city with

    shrapnel of shame！

    Bruce rises. Rolls up a sleeve as he moves to his aquarium.

    Sticks in his arm， puts two fingers through the window of a

    miniature Wayne Manor. Fish swarm his wrist…… .

    ALFRED

    I'm less worried about this ghastly *

    grotesque…… more concerned about *

    repairing the Batmobile. It's not

    as though we can simply bring it

    to any old Joe's Body Shop. Is *

    it， sir？

    Bruce pulls out a key. And laughs.

    BRUCE

    Hey， who let Vicki Vale into the

    Batcave？ I'm sitting there

    working， I turn around， it's like，

    "Oh hi， Vick， c'mon in."

    Then on to a medieval Iron Maiden set in a corner across

    the room. He muses：

    BRUCE

    Selina …… more facets than Vicki，

    huh？ Funny， but sort of mysterious……

    BRUCE

    "Affair" …… yes， maybe …… if

    she ……

    ALFRED

    I think I'll take the stairs. *

    The spikes retract and the bottom drops out of the Iron

    Maiden， as it closes.

    178 OMITTED 178

    & &

    179 179

    180 INT. THE BATCAVE——DAY 180

    Bruce slides out of a chute， then strolls to a console.

    He pulls out the CD he'd pocketed last night， and inserts

    it into a sleek aparatus as Alfred comes puffing

    downstairs.

    Penguin is still posturing， on a large SCREEN down here.

    PENGUIN

    You ask， am I up here for personal

    glory？ Ha …… I toiled for many

    years in happy obscurity， beneath

    your boulevards …… No， the glory

    I yearn to recapture， is the Glory

    of Gotham ……！

    Alfred， all the while， is manning his own console. He's

    punches in a command， "Find Frequency"， which quickly

    brings up the read-out "Frequency Found". His next typed

    command， "Jam Frequency" soon yields the read-out

    "Frequency Jammed."

    Alfred nods to Bruce： time to play. Bruce presses Play.

    181 EXT. GOTHAM PLAZA STAGE——DAY 181

    PENGUIN

    How can this be accomplished？ I

    know you're all concerned.

    Suddenly his mike goes dead —— but his VOICE keeps RINGING

    out over the Plaza， somehow.

    PENGUIN'S VOICE

    Hey， just relax and I'll take

    care of the squealing， wretched，

    pinhead puppets of Gotham.

    Penguin is stunned.

    PENGUIN

    Wait a sec —— I didn't say that.

    But nobody can hear his unamplified voice， over the

    recorded one， from last night.

    PENGUIN'S VOICE

    Ya gotta admit …… I've played this

    stinking city like a harp from

    hell！

    As his Campaign Workers back off the stage， the puffed-up

    Oswald Cobblepot reverts to the limping， twisted Penguin.

    182 OMITTED 182

    & &

    183 183

    184 INT. THE BATCAVE——DAY 184

    Like a sophisticated rap CLub DJ， Bruce "scratches" the

    CD.

    185 EXT. GOTHAM PLAZA——DAY 185

    The single phrase loudly resounds， again and again， as

    Penguin helplessly stands here， lips moving but unheard.

    PENGUIN'S VOICE

    "This stinking city， stinking

    city ……"

    Mortified， Penguin spazzes —— looking， for a second， like

    a rapper. His performance is greeted with snowballs ……

    then a couple of eggs and tomatoes find their way to his

    face.

    Finally Penguin gallops away from the mike —— bumping into

    Max Shreck， who is fighting to get off the platform. *

    Penguin claws at his mentor， losing a glove in the

    process.

    PENGUIN

    Max！ Relax！ Josh and Jen'll put

    a spin on this. We'll talk it over

    tonight， at your costume par——

    MAX

    （shakes his head）

    I think you'd feel out of place at

    my party. You see， it's for

    winners.

    He scrams. Leaving Penguin wiping his face and wondering：

    PENGUIN

    Why is there always someone who

    brings eggs and tomatoes to a

    speech！？

    When suddenly a posse of livid Gothamites， ripping off

    their Oswald Cobblepot buttons， come at him like a human

    wave.

    186 EXT. GOTHAM PARK——DAY 186

    Penguin makes a wild dash through the park， just ahead

    of the angry mob， barely leaping a park bench. As the

    Gothamites gain， he turns， FIRING a salvo from his

    patriotic umbrella. In response， the Park Cops unholster

    their weapons and shoot back. Penguin saves himself by

    diving off the storybook bridge —— the very bridge his

    parents dumped him from， many Christmases ago —— splash-

    ing deep into the icy brook. *

    187 INT. PENGUIN'S LAIR——DAY 187

    Penguin trudges， head down， out of the abyss of his sewer

    pipe back into the light of his Lair. Thuds into his Rubber

    Duck boat and revs it toward the abandoned Arctic island.

    Oblivious to his pain， his penguins squawk and play.

    This brings a dark smile to the Penguin's thin lips.

    PENGUIN

    My babies …… Did you miss me？

    As he docks his Duck， the remaining members of the Red

    Triangle Circus Gang straggle into the lair through a

    tunnel of Snow and Ice. The Thin Clown pops into his *

    face.

    THIN CLOWN

    Great speech， Oswald. The way you *

    told those rubes the score！

    Penguin brutally smacks the Clown's skull with his umbrella.

    PENGUIN

    My name's not Oswald， it's Penguin！

    （burst of renewal）

    I am not a human being！ I'm an

    animal！ A cold-blooded one.

    Crank the a.c.！

    He yanks off his tux， rips off his other glove and wiggles

    his webbed hands， as he rallies his gang.

    PENGUIN

    I'm glad this happened. I've

    learned a little somethng： I

    don't want their "love". Their

    "love" is false and suffocating.

    Ah， but their hatred and disgust

    —— that frees me！ Anyway it's

    too damn muggy up there！

    Christmas， right？ And I'm

    SCHVITZING.

    The Gang clucks its sympathy. Penguin claps his hands.

    PENGUIN

    Where's my list！？ Bring me the

    names！

    A beat， and then the Knifethrower Dame is here， with

    Penguin's stack of legal pads he'd filled at the Hall of

    Records.

    PENGUIN

    It's time. What I've been waiting

    for my whole putrid life. They *

    had their chance， they blew it，

    and now they'll pay ……

    Penguin hops around with dark glee， like Rumpelstiltskin.

    PENGUIN

    Oh， what a collosal bill has come

    due！ GOTHAM WILL NEVER FORGET.

    He tears pages from the pad， starts handing them out. The

    Red Triangle Hoods are reading the names …… "Evan Black，

    181 Shepherd Lane"…… "Thomas Frankel， 273 Carlton Avenue"

    …… frankly confused.

    PENGUIN

    These are the first-born sons of

    Gotham City！ Like I was！ And

    just like me， a terrible fate waits

    for them.

    The surviving Circus Members send up a changed-my-mind

    CHEER.

    188 INT. THE BATCAVE——NIGHT 188

    Bruce works on the battered Batmobile， rewiring， etc.

    The TV SCREEN is on …… a press-conference with the

    Mayor. We catch phrases like "Return to normalcy" and

    "Seen the last of that hateful charlatan ……"

    Now Alfred appears， holding the invitation to tonight's

    ball —— away from him， as though it smells.

    ALFRED

    Mr. Wayne …… a reminder： Tonight

    is that loathsome party， hosted

    by that odious Mr. Shreck. May we *

    RSVP in the resoundingly negative？

    BRUCE

    I'm tempted， but …… well …… it

    is an occasion for celebration，

    and …… umm …… Selina will probably

    be there ……

    ALFRED

    Ah. *

    （then）

    "Who"， may I ask， are you going

    "as"？

    BRUCE

    （ambiguous smile）

    You'll never guess.